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SOL expansion

Mowgli said:
Of course but if it gets an extra couple of thousand in for cup games then no harm done.
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Yeah, I think it's a good idea. With Wembley fresh in the memory it's a really good incentive. Most won't realise it's probably a circa 5% possibility that we get there.
 

AndrewP said:
The chances of a trip to Wembley are, sadly, much lower now than in the last 8 years. There can't be many teams outside the big 4 who have been more often than we have recently.

I think the mags gave members who attended cup games equal/greater priority over season ticket holders that didn't.
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Probably right. But whatever they can do:

Buy your own seat
£10 adult £5 bairns (or less)
2 black cats points
Owt else they can think of
 
Hot Since 82 said:
Probably right. But whatever they can do:

Buy your own seat
£10 adult £5 bairns (or less)
2 black cats points
Owt else they can think of
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Was it arsenal in the league cup a few years back that had 40k+ because it was cheap? £1 kids maybe? I think you might have to get agreement from the away team though?
 
AndrewP said:
Was it arsenal in the league cup a few years back that had 40k+ because it was cheap? £1 kids maybe? I think you might have to get agreement from the away team though?
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Good point.

Also re the kids, they can't get into the landfill so anything we can do to bring some of the next generation in Safc's direction. I live in Jarra and the war definitely is not lost around these parts and we need to keep it like that.
 
Hot Since 82 said:
Good point.

Also re the kids, they can't get into the landfill so anything we can do to bring some of the next generation in Safc's direction. I live in Jarra and the war definitely is not lost around these parts and we need to keep it like that.
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It's basically a closed shop at the mags these days. The percentage of kids in the ground will be falling every year.

Obviously I've been been in, but I'm guessing their family area has very few young kids in it now.
Flavonoids said:
Floccinaucinihilipilification
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That's a word a actually had to Google. 😂
 
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Ricci's Special Kebabs said:
It does, but this coming season is an outlier as it stands.

Hopefully that becomes the normal, which I’m sure we all can agree on.
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The mistake people are making is in a comparison to pre-pandemic attendances. Attendances across the board, not just here, are up massively right down to non-league level. So 10 years ago 35k is 40k+ now. If this is a sustained phenomenon, then we and an awful lot of other clubs need to find ways to accommodate the increased demand.
 
Say an 8,000 seat extension cost £15m, if paid for over a 30 year period the capital repaid would be about £500k per year or about £65 per seat per season or about £2 per seat per game. With interest on the capital of about 10% say about £2.50 per seat per game. If we assume maintenance and stewarding / vending costs would double that then we are talking about £5 per seat per game or for the whole extension about £40,000 per match. If you charge £20 per match then you only need 2000 seats to sell to repay the cost. Obviously beer / food sales would reduce that number even further.

Another way to look at is the extension will cost the same as selling one player, in which case any sales in it would increase the club income.

IMHO I think we should extend the stadium immediately. If that decision is made, then the design & planning required would probably mean a construction start date of next Summer which would see a reduction in our current capacity while the work is done. If we stay up then the additional capacity will be available soonest, if we go down the reduced capacity will probably not affect us.

Also extending the stadium builds into a feel good vibe, and gives an uptick in attendance on its own. We’ve seen that when leaving Roker and when the North Stand extension was built. BTW there were a lot of people saying the North Stand extension was a ‘white elephant’ and ‘would never be filled’ when it was built so this debate is nothing new. Even when the capacity of the stadium was originally increased to 42k during the design phase, people were saying the same thing.

There will always be doubt in some fans. I’ve been in regular SAFC crowds of 50k plus. I’m so happy the builders of Roker Park didn’t decide that 40k was sufficient, and I’m sure that all those currently sitting / standing in the seats freed up by the North Stand extension are also happy it was built.
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
The mistake people are making is in a comparison to pre-pandemic attendances. Attendances across the board, not just here, are up massively right down to non-league level. So 10 years ago 35k is 40k+ now. If this is a sustained phenomenon, then we and an awful lot of other clubs need to find ways to accommodate the increased demand.
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I'm not saying you're wrong, as there seems to have been an uptick in attendees since the pandemic. What do you think has caused it? I'm loathed to compare a pandemic to ww2, but I think the same thing happened then, but it wasn't sustained.

48.5k seems a sufficient capacity for Sunderland, to me, that's presuming we repeat our traditional post-war on pitch performances. We might have a high demand year when it feels too low, but then we might revert back to it appearing to large again. First step is to get the capacity back to 48.5k, which a few people have said is happening from the season after next. That'll cost next to nowt and generate extra income.
Chunky Dunky said:
There will always be doubt in some fans. I’ve been in regular SAFC crowds of 50k plus.
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When was that?
 
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Chunky Dunky said:
Say an 8,000 seat extension cost £15m, if paid for over a 30 year period the capital repaid would be about £500k per year or about £65 per seat per season or about £2 per seat per game. With interest on the capital of about 10% say about £2.50 per seat per game. If we assume maintenance and stewarding / vending costs would double that then we are talking about £5 per seat per game or for the whole extension about £40,000 per match. If you charge £20 per match then you only need 2000 seats to sell to repay the cost. Obviously beer / food sales would reduce that number even further.

Another way to look at is the extension will cost the same as selling one player, in which case any sales in it would increase the club income.

IMHO I think we should extend the stadium immediately. If that decision is made, then the design & planning required would probably mean a construction start date of next Summer which would see a reduction in our current capacity while the work is done. If we stay up then the additional capacity will be available soonest, if we go down the reduced capacity will probably not affect us.

Also extending the stadium builds into a feel good vibe, and gives an uptick in attendance on its own. We’ve seen that when leaving Roker and when the North Stand extension was built. BTW there were a lot of people saying the North Stand extension was a ‘white elephant’ and ‘would never be filled’ when it was built so this debate is nothing new. Even when the capacity of the stadium was originally increased to 42k during the design phase, people were saying the same thing.

There will always be doubt in some fans. I’ve been in regular SAFC crowds of 50k plus. I’m so happy the builders of Roker Park didn’t decide that 40k was sufficient, and I’m sure that all those currently sitting / standing in the seats freed up by the North Stand extension are also happy it was built.
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Where are you plucking £15m from? There's no chance at all.

Obviously every ground is different but it cost Liverpool £80m to add 8,000 seats.

Some real pie in the sky nonsense on this thread.
 
Mowgli said:
Its also not a bad thing to have people missing out for a short while and create a 'must be there' attitude to the SOL. That would increase prices and make an extension a more viable option and more likely to be filled.

Would probably give a better atmosphere aswell when it's packed.
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And if they set up the resale option there could be another few thousand tickets available through that each match
 
AndrewP said:
I'm not saying you're wrong, as there seems to have been an uptick in attendees since the pandemic. What do you think has caused it? I'm loathed to compare a pandemic to ww2, but I think the same thing happened then, but it wasn't sustained.

48.5k seems a sufficient capacity for Sunderland, to me, that's presuming we repeat our traditional post-war on pitch performances. We might have a high demand year when it feels too low, but then we might revert back to it appearing to large again. First step is to get the capacity back to 48.5k, which a few people have said is happening from the season after next. That'll cost next to nowt and generate extra income.

When was that?
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It almost looks like a reflex response to lockdown, but it's now looking too sustained to be just that. I'm no sociologist, so I really don't know what the drivers are.
 
Tell you what, those that dislike the possibility of developing the stadium I know exactly how you feel.

At the cinema the other week the screening was only about 80% full. I was so embarrassed at the empty seats around me that I just couldn't enjoy the movie. I tried to explain to others sitting near me how embarrassing it was, and get this, they all just looked at me like I was the daft one?!

It gets even worse though. I found out they have plans to open a new premium screen with epic sound and those recliner sofa chairs. I asked the lad at the ticket office why on earth they would do this when there were empty seats in the movie I was just in? He said that sometimes the theatre will be full, especially for big movies, and that when it's not it isn't a big deal as an empty seat doesn't really cost them anything.

I couldn't believe he didn't understand why I was so annoyed. The absolute set of bastards man. :evil:
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
It almost looks like a reflex response to lockdown, but it's now looking too sustained to be just that. I'm no sociologist, so I really don't know what the drivers are.
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It's all part of the increased othering in society, and the urge to be part of a group taking a side, being part of something bigger that is distinct from another group or groups.

I'm not a sociologist either.
 
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